John Palacio grew up in a big family – eight kids, plus mom and dad – so a lot of food went into making meals in the Palacio household – and the men did most of the cooking. So it’s no surprise that John Palacio chose a career in the culinary arts when he finally settled down after a few years in the Marine Corps.
Palacio, who was born in Spain and raised in Omaha, Nebraska, has had a number of chef positions. After graduating from Los Angeles Trade Technical College, he had a three-year apprenticeship at the Westin Bonaventure Hotel in Los Angeles, an experience he describes as “real hands-on lessons, shoe dodging and being yelled at – the real training I needed to graduate.”
Following his apprenticeship, he continued his career at Westin hotels in Santa Clara, California; Kansas City, Missouri; Beverly Hills, California; and Tucson, Arizona. Then he moved to Chattanooga and was the executive chef at Porter’s Steakhouse (now Bridgeman’s Chophouse) at the Read House for 12 years before moving to St. Simons Island, Georgia, where he worked as executive chef at the King and Prince resort.
He’s now resettled in Chattanooga and works for Flik Hospitality Group, a global company that provides meals with a wellness-first approach to professional offices, hotels and conference centers, universities, airport lounges, professional athletics teams, K-12 independent schools and more. One of the corporate clients is BlueCross BlueShield of Tennessee, where Palacio is executive chef.
Q: Who influenced you to become a chef?